A substantial crowd showed up at City Hall Friday to see John Hamasaki, who decided to run for district attorney just two days ago, formally file his paperwork.
Hamasaki already has the support of former state Sen. Mark Leno, former Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, former Board of Supes presidents Norman Yee and Matt Gonzalez, Sup. Dean Preston, former Sups. Sandra Lee Fewer and John Avalos, and former police commissioners Angela Chan and Perta DeJesus.
That’s in about 48 hours, when much of official San Francisco is on vacation.
Hamasaki told the crowd at the Department of Elections that he “jumped into this race because we are in a tough situation. The mayor had a chance to appoint a responsible and ethical experienced prosecutor, and she went the other way.”
He said that he would promote “fair and responsible justice that protects everyone, not just wealthy neighborhoods and downtown corporations.”
He added, in his official release:
San Francisco needs an independent district attorney who will hold everyone accountable, whether you are a drug dealer selling Fentanyl in the Tenderloin, a multimillion-dollar corporation exploiting workers and small business owners or a political machine selling influence at City Hall.
So Hamasaki, who has never been shy about his political stands, is directly going after the mayor, municipal corruption, and corporate crime.
He told the crowd that this will be a “three-month sprint.” But Jenkins, who has only lived in San Francisco a year or so and has no political base beyond Breed and the Boudin recall folks, won’t have an easy time, either.
And with Hamasaki in the race, there will be no shortage of real debate about the major issues facing the city.
